The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effect of protective coating with Lactobacillus sakei culture addition for shelf-life prolongation and the improvement of the microbiological safety of raw pork stored under refrigeration. The study was performed on dorsal longissimus muscle, cut into samples of ca. 100 g. Four experimental variants were prepared (A, B, C and D). The samples A and B were covered with xanthan protective coating (0.5% of xanthan) with 1% Lactobacillus sakei BJ-33 culture addition (3.5 x 10⁹ cfu/mL). The samples C and D were left as the controls. Subsequently, by means of surface spraying, the samples A and C were inoculated with the suspension of Escherichia coli PCM 2057 test strain (9 x 10³ cfu/g). Total number of 96 (24 per variant) samples prepared were stored at 2ºC for 9 consecutive days with microbiological determinations (the count of E. coli, total plate count and the counts of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and moulds and yeasts) performed on days 0, 3, 6 and 9. The study revealed that the application of L. sakei-containing protective coating inhibited the growth of superficially inoculated E. coli. On the 9^th day of storage the number of test bacteria in the samples protected with the coating (A) was 0.8 log cfu/g lower than in the E. coli-inoculated controls (C), in spite of the similar initial contamination. LAB were determined in the coating-protected samples (A, B) only while they were not demonstrated in the controls (C, D), indicating the predominant growth of L. sakei. Concluding, the study indicated that the application of protective coatings with LAB seems advisable for industrial raw meat treatment.